Thursday, August 23, 2007 Chiongbian: The ladies return for the Luzvimin Interclub By Edgar R. Chiongbian Teetime
FELLOW golfers, the ladies are back in town! If you play regularly at Cebu Country Club, you have a decision to make.
Either you stay home watch TV or hang out at the clubhouse and watch the ladies in their colorful uniforms wearing their best smile. So what will it be, ha?
The 15th Luzvimin Interclub golf tournament of Women’s Golf (WGAP) is now on its second day of their scheduled three-day competition. Twenty-two teams spread across three divisions are in the competition: seven teams in the Diamond, eight in Ruby and seven in Pearl.
The tournament is team play with a maximum of six players, four to count.
Individual awards will also be given to the top two players in each of the three handicap categories. Local teams Cebu Country Club and Mactan Coral are in the premier Diamond division, while Alta Vista is in the Ruby Division and Club Filipino in the Pearl Division.
Representing CCC are Stephanie Olea, Kathleen Uy, Hannah Wong, Kristine Uy, Ada Martinez and Ryoko Inagal. Competing for Mactan Coral are Virgie Hwang, Rachal Burias, Vangie Hofer, Sol Passion, Judalyn Taghoy and Batch Fernandez. For Alta Vista, the players are Geraldine Ash, Michele Lee, Helen Yap, Rosita Uy, Annie Au and Tessa Ozoa. The Club Filipino diehards are Eva Hino, Jeannette Chiu, Lucille Colina, Remy Perez and Flor Streegan.
In the past three years, the dominant teams in Diamond division are Del Monte (the defending champion), Southwoods and Cebu Country Club. In fact, each of these team was champion. On paper, Southwoods is the top team to beat with an average handicap of 1.08, followed by Del Monte with an average handicap of 3.5 and CCC with an average of 5.9.
Each team, however, has a different formula for winning. Southwoods relies primarily on their seasoned amateurs Regine de Guzman with a handicap of minus 3, Carmelette Villaroman and Lora Roberto, who has a handicap of 1 and 2, respectively.
Del Monte is relying on a combination of the seasoned players and jungolfers.
Lovelyn Guiogiuo has a handicap of 1 and Eva Minoza plays with a handicap of 2 (She made a hole-in-one in this tournament last year). CCC, on the other hand, relies purely on its jungolfers.
My observation about the WGAP tournament, in as many years as I have followed it, is that there is a wide gap forming between the young players and those who have been playing it for many years. The mainstay players are getting older and the players coming in are very young. I mentioned this in a column last year and suggested that the organizers should change the Pearl division into a Senior Division so that these senior ladies will have a true competition of their own. I still believe that this should be done and it is not too far already.
In reviewing the lineup from previous years to this year, I noticed that the players who would normally be in the Ruby division are now in the Pearl. That means the Pearl division is pretty much a senior group. There are always exceptions to the rule but as one gets older, the handicap also climbs because of the loss of agility and stamina, thus the difficulty maintaining a lower handicap.
WGAP has been in existence for only 15 years, but the rivalry between these ladies group has actually been 20 years. It started back when they were part of the PAL Interclub Tournament but was spun off after five years because of budget cuts.
History is everything and WGAP’s most important assets are the people who have supported it for many years. Just ask our good friend Leni Cabili of Philippine Navy; she has played—and is still counting—in all the 20 tournaments.
REMINDER. This Saturday is the monthly medal tournament at CCC and it is in honor of and is called the Cheling Garcia Cup tournament. The defending champion is Mark Dy with a lowest gross score of 68. Expect some extra perks and competitions for the most accurate drive, longest drive and closest to the pin.
GOLF TIP. Control your pitches by firming up your left arm. Make sure that your left arm is firm throughout the swing. If it breaks down, the swing arc narrows and changes the clubhead path. The result is loss of control and poor contact with the ball.
